Court of Appeals sides with Patterson Harkavy in Workers’ Compensation dispute

In Cole v. United Parcel Service, Inc., the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Patterson Harkavy’s client, Plaintiff Joel Cole. Mr. Cole suffered severe injuries to his back in the course of his employment with the Defendant, and filed a Workers’ Compensation claim over that injury. Medical experts disagreed as to whether Mr. Cole’s condition was caused by a workplace injury by accident.

Patterson Harkavy attorney Hank Patterson represented Mr. Cole before the Industrial Commission, which found that Mr. Cole’s back condition was a compensable injury by accident. The Industrial Commission awarded him temporary total disability benefits and costs for medical treatments arising from that injury. Patterson Harkavy attorneys Narendra Ghosh and Paul Smith joined Hank in representing Mr. Cole on Defendant’s appeal of that decision.

On September 2, a Court of Appeals panel filed a unanimous opinion in favor of Mr. Cole, affirming the Industrial Commission’s award.